From the Philadelphia Inquirer:
'Interim' school budget adopted
Full-day kindergarten and most transportation in Phila. were cut in the $2.8 billion plan. A union move drew fire.
June 01, 2011|By Kristen A. Graham, Inquirer Staff Writer
The Philadelphia School Reform Commission adopted a $2.8 billion "interim" budget Tuesday night, formally endorsing deep cuts, but signaling that it hopes it can roll back the most painful ones."Many of the critical building blocks of the school district's budget are still uncertain," chief financial officer Michael Masch told the SRC at a dramatic special meeting.
But unless talks in City Hall and Harrisburg
And then there's us. Mt. Lebanon does not have a full day kindergarten program or school buses to cut. What we ARE doing is:'Interim' school budget adopted
Full-day kindergarten and most transportation in Phila. were cut in the $2.8 billion plan. A union move drew fire.
June 01, 2011|By Kristen A. Graham, Inquirer Staff Writer
The Philadelphia School Reform Commission adopted a $2.8 billion "interim" budget Tuesday night, formally endorsing deep cuts, but signaling that it hopes it can roll back the most painful ones.
"Many of the critical building blocks of the school district's budget are still uncertain," chief financial officer Michael Masch told the SRC at a dramatic special meeting.But unless talks in City Hall and
Mt. Lebanon board greenlights school redesign Mt. Lebanon's school board gave the go-ahead June 20 for architect Tom Celli to begin drawing up plans for the district's redesigned high school renovation project. He will move forward pending a few final clarifications regarding the layout of rooms and corridors in the gym areas. The goal is to re-bid the project in September. http://www.thealmanac.net/alm/story10/06-22-2011-Lebo-school-board (Article saved in Google Documents.)
We can't keep going at this pace. When do the furloughs start? How will we be able to afford the last year of the Teachers' Contract?
Any one know the answer to this question. Is the planetarium in C building included in plans for building G at the high school? I know it was discuss as not being necessary for 21st century science classes, although St. Vincent seems to think otherwise! From the Post Gazette:
ReplyDeleteSt. Vincent College opens first part of science center
Sunday, June 26, 2011
By Madeline Buckley, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
Saint Vincent College on Saturday dedicated the first phase of the $39 million Sis and Herman Dupré Science Pavilion, a state-of-the-art research center with a digital imaging laboratory and a planetarium.
State-of-the-art research center that includes a planetarium... wow! We've had a planetarium available to our high school students for -- how many years now and our forward thinking administration/board wants to send it to landfill!
-Giffen Good
Read more: http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/11177/1156353-115.stm#ixzz1QOgZmy5o
Mt. Lebanon's Zeiss projector has been made obsolete by today's computer technology.
ReplyDeleteEven the Buhl Planetarium's projector is just a relic from the past:
http://www.pittsburghlive.com/x/pittsburghtrib/news/pittsburgh/s_638981.html
This Mt. Lebanon resident can add more to the discussion:
http://venustransit.pghfree.net/fotz/statements/ST-PCC-Buhl2006328LP.htm
How much are we paying for repairs when it gets out of alignment?
I'm all for keeping buiding C, and the planetarium within it.
It's just not a show stopper to save the old projector.
How about retrofitting the old planetarium in building C with new technology?
As far as I know, the renovation doesn't have a planetarium at all.
David Huston
If we kept building C we might not have to cut. Jan can't pad the budget forever.
ReplyDeleteJohn Ewing
Didn't Josephine Posti say there were no sacred cows? Except Building C.
ReplyDeleteElaine
David:
ReplyDeleteThanks for the info. I couldn't get into the first link you provided on Lebo's Zeiss projector, but the second from the Friend's of the Buhl's seems to send a message that their's is still a useful tool for educating students. I'm left to wonder if planetarium's are obsolete why would St. Vicent's invest in one in their "state-of-the-art" science pavilion?
I really don't have an answer, only find it curious.
- Giffen Good
David:
ReplyDeleteIts not about saving the Zeiss projector , its about saving the planetarium or rather the space of the planetarium. Read this article: http://www.newsobserver.com/2011/04/23/1148578/planetarium-projector-being-put.html
From the article:
Next generation
While the Zeiss projector was used primarily for Earth-based astronomy shows, the digital system will let the planetarium expand its offerings in other scientific disciplines.
"We can go inside a cell, go underwater, go into space," he said. "It's really this wild west era where people are experimenting with things."
The new technology will allow the planetarium to offer shows with eight times the resolution of most high-definition televisions, projected over the entire face of the dome.
The Zeiss projector couldn't do that. But it and its predecessors can stake a claim that the new technology can't.
The high school project isn't or at least shouldn't be about building new buildings or rooms. It should rather be about building or preparing school spaces for a "21st century" learning environment!
Look at the 21st century classroom demo on the district website. Strip out all the new tech equipment and what do you really have? The same 4 walls, ceiling and floor that has been in that space since 1972. The pool yes, you can't squeeze 8 lanes into a 5 lane pool, but an 800 sq. ft. classroom is still an 800 sq. ft. classroom whether built today or 50 years ago. The board is admitting that by putting more and more classroom space into B bldg. built in 1928!
- Giffen Good